


The Carnival of the Animals

by HaveMyWeedCookies



Series: The Fox and the Wolf [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Sanji is a fox, Strawhats are animals, Zoro is a wolf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-07-10 19:57:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19911337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaveMyWeedCookies/pseuds/HaveMyWeedCookies
Summary: A sequel to the Golden Fox, set after Sanji and Zoro left Sanji's town. They met new friends and the fox's many suitors. The wolf was not happy about it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Me again with another fox!Sanji story. I just want to write a fic about Sanji being loved and adored - that's, that's the real plot.
> 
> P.S. for those who are still interested, I'm still working on the last chapter of "Recite Your Vows."

**The Map-Reading Fox**

Did you ever wonder “do animals go on an adventure”? Now, some strict specialists would love to point out that your question was rather anthropomorphic and deny that animals no, animals did not _travel_ in that manner. They didn't because they did not possess consciousness to choose rationally; their migration was purely instinctive. Animals did not journey miles and miles away from their original places and into the unknown land because they wanted to court danger or to seek an adventure. Absolutely ridiculous and impossible.

Or so many humans believed.

One of these firm believers lived in a small town, somewhere in the Western region. His name was not of importance to the story but you’d need to know that he was the town’s local councilman and an animal-watching enthusiast. The councilman was proud of his knowledge in animal behaviors which he had self-taught himself for many years. His confidence was borderline arrogant; in many occasions, he’d look down his nose at people who spoke unscientifically about the animals, describing them like they were humans, or god forbid suggesting that the beasts possessed intelligence on par with humans!

Despite his obnoxious traits, the councilman loved his wife, who was the only person who had the patience to listen to his rant and smiled back encouragingly. So, when the snow miraculously had stopped, he took her to the town’s square to have a nice brunch at her favorite café. This little café, in his opinion, had the nicest spot to appreciate the view of the town; it was located between the town square and the park, giving the best sceneries of both worlds: of man’s great architecture and nature's beauty.

The park was the councilman’s pride actually.

He was the one who defended against its budget cut and proposed for its renovation. That, so the townspeople could have a well-managed park to enjoy outdoor activities while being able to watch some magnificent wildlife. His effort yield its sweet fruit in forms of beautiful migratory birds which came to rest in his park before heading south to escape the cold every year.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. Reasonably, many townspeople decided to stay in their warm bed. Because his wife was busy chatting with the patient waiter and there wasn’t any interesting commotion in the town square, the councilman found his attention wandering. His eyes naturally found their way to the park out of boredom.

That was how he noticed _it._

“Darling, what are you looking at?” The councilman’s wife asked when she realized her husband had become too quiet, especially when he didn’t start grumbling about her being a chatty bird like the usual. 

“A fox.” The husband’s answer piqued the wife’s interest, her eyes following his gaze curiously.

“Oh, isn’t he the cutest little floof!” She cooed because that what women did when seeing small children and fluffy animals. “Look, he is reading a map!”

“A fox doesn’t read, woman,” the councilman grunted at his wife, strongly disapproved.

There was a fox sitting in front of the park’s gate, looking like it was reading the map board of the town. No. No animal was capable of such thing even though this one looked so abnormally captivated by the map for some reason. But it definitely didn’t read because animals **couldn’t** read. People often projected their emotions and thoughts onto the animals like his wife often did. She declared that their housecat was a litter _thinker_ as the little beast always stared pensively at the wall. He wasn’t a faint-hearted man but the cat’s stare sometimes crept him off. Nevertheless, he promised himself to never be like his wife because he knew better that there was nothing in the animal’s head.

Back to the fox, it had been sitting there for at least ten minutes since he started to watch it, still staring at the board with an intense focus.

“I didn’t know our town has a group of foxes,” his wife chirped conversationally. 

“It’s called a charm,” he educated her about a proper collective noun for foxes.

“He looks like a little charmer to me too,” agreed easily the wife.

“You didn’t know its existence until ten minutes ago, woman. How can you randomly assume its personality, provided that it has any?”

“Shut up, husband. You have your knowledge; I have my intuition.”

The councilmen did shut up because he respected his wife not because he feared her wrath. But also, her probe made him realize that their town actually had never seen a fox before until this one showed up. This bothered his mind. The councilman was observant, a required quality for animal-watching enthusiasts, thus he had noticed several mysterious cases of animal behaviors recently that he couldn’t come up with an explanation of why they behaved in that way. Like, why many migratory animals were moving north in the mid-winter or why some non-migratory animals, suddenly migrated, with most going south. It was so against their nature. What frustrated him even further was that no one seemed to pay attention to this situation at all. News was still rambling about crop failure and wildfire here and there, or some new disease which he believed the government had it under control by now. No one really tasked themselves to crack the case but him.

Perhaps that was why he found the _map-reading fox_ so insulting to his pride, like its existence here today was to personally mock him.

**No. Nope. It was still not reading!**

The fox was indeed reading the map.

He was also irritated.

Sanji rapidly slapped his tail on the lawn in annoyance because they got lost. They had strayed from the path further than he expected. How could they end up somewhere in the Western region, he had no idea? But he knew for sure it was marimo's fault. He shouldn’t have let that stupid wolf led in the first place. Never again would Sanji let him handle anything navigation-related even carrying a compass because he fucking lost it along the way as well. Unbelievable.

Sanji used to wonder if marimo was somehow cursed because how someone could be this bad with direction. Now, he was confident that Zoro was just an idiot.

The fox sighed and stared at the map once last time to make sure he memorized all the details of routes. It was time to move before more humans showed up for food and got scared by the sight of marimo. The fox, a former local celebrity himself, didn’t really mind a little attention but the moss was… another story. More reasons to move quickly before some folks deciding to call the animal control on them.

Thus, the fox called,

“Marimo, get your ass up here! Stop chasing the geese! We have to move before the fucking war is over!”

To the humans’ ears, this was what they heard.

“Eeeeeeeh! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!”

The couple looked at the fox with different feelings. The wife seemed troubled, “Oh, what happened to the poor thing? Is he in pain? Hungry? I’m going to give him a bagel.”

“You are not going to feed a wild animal a bagel!” the husband put his hand on the table. “It’s not hungry. That’s a vixen scream. It is probably calling its mate, typical for this beast,” he explained because it made all the sense or why would the beast, out of the blue, let out a bloody shriek?

“Really?” the wife was still unconvinced, with a bagel in her hand really to go feed the poor crying baby.

“Just watch,” the man said confidently and took a sip of his coffee because he had seen many wildlife documentaries. The fox’s ears twitched as it let out a short series of squawking to something that was coming out from the park. Another beast of its kind was going to show up in a few minutes. The couple waited to see if the husband’s prediction corrected. And he was right...to some extent. An animal showed up but - you couldn’t blame him to fail to predict that – _“Holy cow, isn’t that a wolf?!”-_ was the one showing up to the fox’s call.

The wolf was big. It let out a low growl while towering over the fox, baring its teeth at the smaller beast who calmly stared at the predator that could kill it on the spot, with its tail swaying leisurely from side to side as if it accepted its doom.

It couldn’t be more evident that the animal went mad from fear.

Upon seeing this, the councilman turned back to his wife to tell her to close her eyes from the gruesome scene that was destined to happen. The wife whose eyes were still on the animals widened and before he could save her from the trauma, let out a scream.

No, a squeal.

“Oh my god! They are so adorable!!”

The confused husband couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.

They watched as the terrifying grey wolf lowered itself before the fox, letting the latter climb on its back. When the fox settled down, the wolf stood up and started to move like it was just a carriage for the lesser beast.

Like that was… normal.

The animals seemed to be heading to their direction. As they crossed the street to the human zone, the townspeople in the square had now noticed them, all watching the pair mesmerizingly. The animals were not startled by the humans at all. The wolf looked slightly annoyed but overall bored when people taking a photo of them. The fox riding on the wolf’s back, on the contrary, enjoyed the attention as it lifted its head and puffed the chest in a preening manner, freakily very human-like.

When they approached the councilman and wife and the fox's eyes met the man, the animals' appearances started glimmering. The wife started making weird cooing noises of how adorable the animals were but the councilman couldn’t say anything back to her as he was too stunned to be capable of speech; his eyes were seeing something very bizarre.

Instead of the two animals, there were two men that had never been there before until that minutes ago. One fucking winked at him.

The couple watched the animals until they were gone, undoubtedly taking to the road that led to the South.

“I wonder if they are someone’s pets, they are so cute and tame.” the wife said, still smiling.

“Wife. I think I’m going mad,” the councilman confessed after being quiet during the close encounter with the lovely pair. It was the first time that the wife saw her husband wearing this haunted expression on his face. He didn’t even finish his brunch which was now cold, an alarming sign. She was now concerned.

“What’s it, darling?”

“I didn't see the animals... there were these two men, one in a suit riding the back of the other who dressed like a period-drama actor. I think I’m going mad, wife. Or I might have a brain tumor.”

The wife blinked.

“Let’s hope it’s just you going mad, dear. The medical bill isn’t cheap here. And don’t worry, I still love you.”

“You love messing with them, don’t you?” stated the exasperated wolf.

“He kept referring to me as an _it_ \- like a mindless beast. Thought I would correct him and if only one of us is bestial, it’s you, marimo,” Explained the fox, comfortably lying on his belly on the wolf’s back. The wolf snorted but otherwise said nothing.

The wolf walked along the road, with the fox acting like his personal Google Map, a prissy one. In no time, they were out of the town, with just grasses and bushes on both sides of the road. When the road was empty of vehicles, the wolf would change its trotting track from the sidewalk to the smoother Asphalt road. The fox woke up occasionally to see if they were on the right track and smacked the wolf’s head with its black foot if they weren’t.

They kept on walking until the sky got darker. Upon seeing just the wood before them, the fox groaned,

“I want to sleep on a bed tonight.”

“Ugh, here we go again,” the wolf braced himself.

“I'm serious, marimo, ” whined the fox to the eye-rolling wolf,“ Not on straw bundles or someone’s fresh-mowed lawn! This time, I want a real human-size bed!” But it seemed they would be sleeping on a hard ground tonight. This sleeping arrangement was likely to continue for several more nights until they reached the next town.

“I’m going to dump you on the first muddy ground I find, spoiled shit fox. Why I have to carry a sissy prince like you?” Grumbled the wolf who was still carrying the fox on its back. The fox snickered at the wolf’s empty threat.

“My body is sore, I couldn’t even lift my tail and it was your fault.”

“You were the one who suggested we wrestled last night! Now, you cannot even stand two-legged and we have to travel during the day in these forms. How was it my fault?!”

“Only if we have money, we could stay in a motel with a bathroom,” sighed the fox, longing for a shower.

“And whose fault’s that we are broke?” The wolf barked, getting real pissed.

“Are you still not over _that_ , salty moss? What’s done is done.” the fox tapped his front leg on the wolf’s snout, like a patting on a cheek to an upset child, which earned him a feral growl from the wolf. It didn't sound like an empty threat anymore so the fox wisely ceased his teasing.

**The Poacher**

Almost a week ago, they crossed a border between the East and the West (not in their intention; they were lost apparently), and encountered a group of poachers. The humans immediately chased after the fox, greedily eying on his golden fur. The animals temporarily got separated, with the foolish poachers that persued Zoro getting mauled to death. Zoro didn’t draw out a sword, just teeth and claws because they weren’t worthy of his swords. He even debated that they didn’t deserve his claws either but sometimes a person must endure a dishonorable task to get things done, like scrapping trash from the boots.

After he finished the humans, Zoro tried to go back to the fox -- and was lost in the forest for four days.

He found the cook later in the poachers' cabin, taking care of a delirious man, a poacher who wanted to kill the fox for fur and who **was now fucking smitten by the cook.**

“Don’t hurt him. He is injured,” The cook said from the kitchen, without even looking at Zoro who stood by the sick man’s bed with murderous intent.

“I’m not going to hurt him. I’m going to finish him.”

"Marimo..." warned the cook.

"Fuck," swore Zoro, angrily slumping against the wall all the while glaring at the human whom he wasn't allowed to kill.

The poacher’s name was Gin who became a poacher for money. The human saw the fox and thought only about capturing it alive to sell it to the rich. He, obviously never stood a chance against the fox whose one kick knocked the man out cold. The fox could have left the unconscious man in the forest but he didn't because the fox was too kind for his own good, he stayed around to make sure the man's friends found him (they didn't because they were dead) and happened to hear his sobbing backstory of hunger and poverty. Needless to say, it invoked the fox’s pity. He carried Gin back to the cabin, treated his wound and fed him for four days.

“Hunger can force people to do a lot of regrettable things, you know?” the cook said with a wistful smile, “not everyone is lucky to meet good people in their life.”

Zoro might never forgive the man like Gin but he would accept that as a sensible excuse – that until the sick man in his fever, fucking clinging to the cook’s hand, prompting the kind-hearted cook to squeeze the man's hand reassuringly.

“He’d suffer less if he dies,” suggested the swordsman with a shrug. Sanji glared at him and sent him out of the cabin.

The poacher’s cold broke the next day and Sanji decided the man was healthy enough to recover by himself. They left him in the cabin with a portion of food and money. Zoro was not and never gonna be happy about it. I mean, giving the supply away and to the human that wanted your skin? But this man was the cook’s prey. The cook triumphed over him so it was his right to decide the man’s fate. It was the law of the forest that Zoro had to respect. This Gin was lucky that he faced the cook, not Zoro, or he would have been six feet under by now.

“I hope he’d use his second life wisely,” the cook said while they were in a market, trying to buy food with the leftover money.

“He better be,” grumbled the moody swordsman.

Unbeknownst to the two animals, he actually did. Gin stopped being a poacher; he was now working for wildlife conservation. He didn’t remember much about the incident that got all his friends dead and he ended up bedridden alone in the cabin for five days. After that he still had a dream – a dream that had been occupied his mind day and night – of the pale young man whose golden hair was of the same color of the fox he tried to capture, his beauty was ethereal yet too real to be a hallucination. Gin had never seen anything of beauty in his life; he was certain that his poor imagination could not come up with something so precious and beautiful like the man from his dream. Somewhere out there, there existed this man, the object of Gin's adoration whom he would do anything for, just to meet him again.

**The Black Wolf's Pack**

They set out a camp in the forest tonight.

Sanji complained about their sleeping condition again, of rough and dirty ground, even he slept on Zoro’s body every night. The fox claimed to not want his fur getting dirty but actually, he was just afraid of insects. This was one thing that confirmed Zoro’s suspicion that domestication weakened the animal’s spirit. The fox lost his dignity when he had become a slave to human hygiene and this. Foxes, the animal kind preyed on insects and small mammals but one of its kind was now scared shitless of spiders. Lame.

But the fox made a good pillow.

….

Zoro would rather die than to admit that but when the fox was deep asleep, Zoro would secretly put his head on his bushy tail. It was so large and fluffy and – he sounded like a fucking pup... Ugh.

_You forget that._

**Better forget that.**

They found a river when searching for firewood. Camping by the river had one benefit. The cook liked swimming and his bitching ceased almost immediately. The golden fox didn’t waste time to dive headfirst into the river, leaving Zoro to start the campfire by himself. A fox’s way of hunting was fucking funny, though, if you asked any wolf. The way they always pounce into any surface was downright ridiculous. But at least, the fox hunted effectively using this technique that Zoro would never want to try out, soon he got them enough fishes to last for a few days even a month if they preserved the fish.

The night was still young so the cook, after finishing the meal, went to forage the forest. Zoro content to stay behind and watch over the smoked fish for the cook. It was still winter which meant not so much to gather from the forest but the cook always found tubers, wild berries, and plants for their salad dishes. If someone told Zoro a few months ago he would enjoy eating stinging nettles, he would make them eat his swords because if plants were pointy, it was clear that they wanted to be left alone unless you were an idiot. 

That kinda worried Zoro when he started thinking about how much he’d changed ( _willingly_ ) for the cook. They ate cooked food now because the shitty fox was too domestic to eat raw food. The cook was trying to tame Zoro’s tongue - and it was fucking working. Zoro’s wildness was at stake; if he wasn’t careful, someone was going to put a collar on him someday like a pet dog. Degradation.

....

..

.

“And I thought this was going to be an uneventful night like others. Damn, I was wrong,” muttered the swordsman to the air – the air that now was overwhelmed with the unpleasant odor…of wolves.

Each forest had its own land lord. Spirits were territorial in their nature. Zoro knew that they would less likely be hospitable when finding trespassers in their territories. Still, the swordsman stayed on his spot, keeping the campfire burning and waiting for the cook to return. He wasn’t here to challenge their rule. They could talk thing out – that would be an ideal scenario but he’d not be shy from a fight either if they insisted on getting themselves hurt.

The bush moved.

Zoro thumbed the hilt of Wado in anticipation.

The fox popped up from the wood, carrying a bundle of grass in his mouth.

“Ai aele auulf (I smell wolves,)” the fox said unintelligibly because his mouth was full.

“Get out of the bush and spit out the weeds before saying something, will you?” Zoro huffed, agitated by the stranger wolf's smell and itching to get into action. The fox rolled his eyes at him but got out of the wood. After spitting out the bundle of his plant collection, the fox went to sit next to Zoro and started grooming himself, unperturbed by the prospect of a confrontation about to happen in less than no time. Zoro was so tempted to ruffle his fur just to be spiteful but the fox and he felt the ground vibrated first. It told what they needed to know – that a group of animals was heading to their direction. The smell was mixed but the most prominent one, presumably belonging to the alpha of the group, smelled like steel and disinfectant. The weird combination made Zoro’s instinct go haywire; he unconsciously moved to shield the fox from the direction he thought the newcomers would be coming from. The fox hissed at him. Zoro ignored him as his eye intensely focused on something approaching the wood in front of them.

Stepping out of the bush was a tall man with tattoos and a long sword. Not many wolves were swordsman so it was pretty easy to figure out this new wolf’s identity.

 **Trafalgar** looked like a person who had serious sleep deprivation, with dark shadows under his non-human yellow eyes. The wolf lord of the north had a slight frown on his face when he stepped out of the bush, but upon laying his eyes on Zoro and the cook who stubbornly pushed Zoro’s body away to face the stranger spirit, the frown slowly turned into a grin.

This would be Zoro’s advice if he had to give one: do not trust a wolf’s grin.

Sanji, on the other hand, tilted his head and furrowed his brows, “you smile like a fox.”

The grin creepily got wider.

“Hello, Roronoa,” said Trafalgar. He had a very distinctive voice: low, silky and dangerous.

“Trafalgar,” Zoro acknowledged, paused before asking “Why are you here? Did you get lost?” Because the last time he heard, the alpha’s pack was supposed to be heading south.

Sanji hit him in the head.

“What the hell, shit cook!? I’ll cut you!” Yelled Zoro, completely forgetting that he had to keep up the cool facade as he was dealing with the other wolf. What the fuck the shit cook found to be offended again. This wasn’t about him at all.

“You have no right to call someone lost, you damn lost child!” The cook shouted back.

"It is uncalled for. Don't make me throttle your throat!"

"Like you can!"

Trafalgar only stared at their fight, looking amused. Zoro’s body automatically moved closer to the cook as he noticed the man’s attention was unwaveringly on Sanji. He was about to tell Trafalgar to state his business and piss off, leaving the cook out of this. The ungrateful cook, clearly, did not think so because the shit fox loved to be included in anything even it wasn’t his to mess around. Another trait of a nosy pet that had been living with human far too long.

“I’m Blackleg,” the cook introduced himself to the alpha.

“Befitting name,” Trafalgar said airily, “Trafalgar Law.”

Both the swordsman and the cook lifted their brows. The alpha smirked, knowing what they were thinking “Don’t worry, my real name is quite long. I give you just the two parts of it... because I kinda like you, Blackleg-ya.”

The cook blushed at the blatant flirt.

“State your business, Trafalgar,” Zoro almost growled. Sanji elbowed him for being rude.

As if to infuriate him, Law sat down and grinned, “I have a business here -" but the grin was dimmer when he finished the sentence "-but with the other wolf.” 

Law’s original plan was to annoy the other swordsman a little long before excusing himself. He didn’t want to stay with them long even though they were a very interesting pair, especially the fox. He still needed to find Kid or any proof to confirm that the other alpha was no longer here.

That was until a giant leaf full of a grilled fish and a salad was thrust onto his hand by Blackleg.

Law looked at the unexpected food in his hand like he didn’t know what to do with it, obviously never getting this kind of hospitality before. Not all spirits were hospitable hosts. Actually, none was. When the man was still looking at the food like some sort of puzzles or tricks, Zoro felt pity for him and decided to help,

“It’s not poisonous. He is a cook.”

The cook beamed at him with pride. Zoro internally patted himself for doing great.

Trafalgar nodded but before he could take a bite, the bushes around them starting to shake and the three men around the campfire could hear the loud gurgling sounds coming from behind the bushes.

Zoro drew out his swords.

Law shouted, “Wait! That’s my pack! Guys, come out.”

Slowly, several wolves walked out to sit behind Law, with _a polar bear_ appearing last. It flopped down at Law’s feet, looking apologetic “Captain, sorry for not being strong enough to control our stomachs. The food smells so nice.”

Law looked guilty at the sight of his hungry followers. Zoro sighed and sheathed his swords.

The cook would not let this pack go anytime soon.

As predicted, the cook set out to work for a pack of hungry strangers, quickly whipping out something from plants, roots and fishes. Soon, everyone in Law’s pack received their portions which they happily gorged themselves on, all moaning how delicious the food was. The cook was still humming by the campfire, stirring food in the pot to give them the second fill. Law finished his food by that time and was watching the cook feeding his pack members like he was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.

Zoro had seen that kind of stare before.

 _Crap._

Kid, the wolf who ruled this Western forest, was the most aggressive alpha among the wolf lords. The only reason why he didn’t come out to fight trespassers could mean only one thing: he had left his forest.

Spirits were attached to their land. Death was the only way for the spirits to part with the land. Unless there was a really important cause that made them voluntarily leave the land unguarded.

The war.

“In the north, two powerful wolf packs beside mine have disappeared. They are gone even before Hawkeye arrived with his invitation,” Trafalgar told them, “Kid’s disappearance was the last piece of the puzzle I need to confirm my suspicion.”

“Of what?” asked Sanji.

“That the war will be far greater than I anticipated,” Trafalgar concluded.

“I still don’t follow," frowned Sanji.

“Don’t mind him. He has led a very sheltered life,” explained Zoro.

“Hey!” Sanji cried, affronted. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t have all the information that Law and marimo already had.

“It’s true. You were a pet fox with a bowtie, little Egg-“

_Boom!_

A swift powerful kick and the swordsman was sent flying into the river. The furious cook didn’t hesitate to jump into the water to continue the fight. Their faces were red from anger and their yell could be heard the entire forest.

Whatever Law felt when he watched the two's bickering he kept it to himself.

Somehow, Law’s pack had traveled with Zoro and Sanji for six days until they were out of the forest. During the days, they had crossed different terrain: mountains and valleys, meadows and wetlands. When on the flat ground, all of them resumed human forms, except two people. One was Bepo, the polar bear who couldn’t shapeshift yet. The other was Zoro because he refused to walk on two legs for some childish reason. The grey wolf was openly hostile toward the other alpha on several occasions too. It was perhaps something to do with wolf things, being territorial and assertive or so -Sanji wasn’t interested in finding out. Law was actually a cool person. Despite his delinquent look ( _why wolves had delinquent looks-_ wondered Sanji), he was straightforward and knowledgeable, and Sanji was interested in learning more about the war from Law that marimo didn’t supply him.

“This country has long been divided and controlled by the five powerful factions,” the black-haired swordsman told the cook who was walking alongside him.

Four great lords of the four directions: the giantess of the north, the ranger of the south, the dragon of the west and the catfish of the east. The last was the human government at the central capital. 

“You are lucky that you live under Whitebeard’s protection. East is the most peaceful region in this country, all thanks to him-"

The giant albino catfish had lived longer than any spirits on the land and the seas. In the old-time, Whitebeard terrorized people with earthquakes, smashing his massive tail on the platonic plates to create great tsunamis that destroyed everything on the surface. But that time was long past, the catfish had mellowed out, now spending his final years in the calmest sea of the East, protecting the sea creatures and land dwellers – and occasionally sinking long-haul boats.

“-But he is dying," Law continued with a grim face.

The prospect of Whitebeard’s death had shaken up the delicate balance of power. Not only just the other great lords but the human government was also waiting for the transition of power from Whitebeard to his successor, all ready to seize the oldest lord's approaching demise for its advantage.

“About five months ago, one of the great lords, who rules the south, mysteriously disappeared in the capital – it was an opening sign everyone was looking for - to invade the other's territory. The dragon lord wasted no time to expand his territory to the south; angered the giantess of the north who is now leading the army to claim her right to the land. The government broke the truce with them and declared war on spirits--”

They saw another mountain standing before them. The group would need to shift back to their animal forms to climb it soon. Bepo was leading the group as the reliable navigator of Law's pack, following by marimo and other wolves (to keep marimo from straying off). Law and Sanji were at the back of the group, still talking.

“So far, Whitebeard’s children have been silent amid the other great lords’ conflicts but once they move, a full-fledged war will break out. Humans and spirits are going to die. Those who wish to live will have to take sides. That’s why many wolves have disappeared from their lands,” Law finished his explanation.

Sanji listened without saying anything; there were too many things to process at once. He just got the realistic description of what the war would look like and realized what kind of an oblivious fool he was. Had not he met Zoro and Mihawk, he would have still lived in his bubble ignorantly waiting for the war to destroy his hometown. He did owe Zoro this time although Sanji was a little mad at marimo for leaving out this important detail.

“So you are joining the battle to stop the war?” He asked Law because even as helpful as Law’s explanation was, the alpha wolf was being intentionally objective, portraying it like he was a mere observer. 

Law gave him a smile which looked nothing like any smile he gave to Sanji; this time it was akin to a snarl. “Don’t think so highly of me, Black Leg-ya. There is this _animal._ I want to kill it with my own hand.”

It was so full of hatred. The murderous intent alone would cause lesser animals to cower in fear. Sanji wasn’t a lesser animal. The group would be reaching the base of the mountain in a few minutes. He looked at Law and saw past the mask of aggression. Whenever hatred was strong in an animal, always there was stronger grief behind it. He might not know Law. He might not know a lot about spirit politics but he knew how to read people. No matter how careful they were, people always projected information: their eyes, their postures. His unfazed reaction to Zoro and Sanji traveling together, his vengeance and how he had a distant look in his eyes every time after he talked to Sanji. Every bit and piece of information he had of Law in five days came together and told only one story.

“Who is the fox you are seeking revenge for?" He asked before he could stop himself and almost wanted to slap himself for prying into Law's painful memory. Law bit inside of his cheeks and for the first time since they had traveled together he didn’t attempt to be charming, “A grey fox. He raised me.” Law looked at him, really really looked at him and gave a sad chuckle, "clumsy, unlike you. He couldn't even smoke without lighting himself on fire." Sanji nodded and didn’t offer anything because it wasn’t what Law needed. They reached the rocky feet of the mountain.“Your perceptiveness is impressive, Black Leg," Law remarked before turning into the black wolf and started climbing. The conversation for today was over.

Sanji let Law cool off his head and went to sit next to him at night. He was the one who forced the alpha to recall the painful past. If some stranger came to demand Sanji to go back on the painful memory he wanted to forget, he would be mad too. But Law seemed to not hold any grudge. He was a good person, more than he let on. So, Sanji offered to groom him as some sort of apology.

Law felt better. But Zoro went mad.

The grey wolf rushed to pick Sanji by his neck, **again.** Even the fox said multiple times he hated being manhandled in this disrespectful way. The wolf ignored him and unceremoniously dropped him on the ground of mushy decomposing leaf litter.

Hurt words were said.

Sanji called him a rabid mutt and Zoro said he was a mental support pet. Nothing was wrong with being a mental support pet but Sanji wasn’t one and mosshead meant it to be insulting so Sanji would take it to be offensive and attacked the idiot dog.

Law and his pack just watched the fight that continued for hours and wondered _'how could they be offended by those ridiculous name callings?'_ Law thought they were terrible burns – he would be confused more than anything if he was to receive those insults. But the two took it seriously.

It seemed to be serious because, for the first time since the journey began, the fox and the wolf slept separately that night. Zoro slept behind a rock, furthest away from the campfire and Sanji slept on a tree after politely refusing Law’s offer to let the fox sleep on Bepo. Neither slept well that night.

Zoro didn’t like this -screwed it- he hated it. Any blind wolf could see that Law wanted the cook for his pack, trying to seduce him right under Zoro’s nose. A little step further, Zoro was going to fucking murder that bastard. But it was the cook who Zoro was mad at most. Did no one teach him some sense that grooming a stranger wolf was fucking inappropriate as fuck? He just sent a wrong message and didn’t even admit his mistake. Zoro was still pissed that he deliberately not transformed back during the night when the fox sought him out for their usual sleep arrangement. The fox retaliated by giving him a cold shoulder for the rest of their travel with Law’s pack.

The night before they traveled out of the forest, Law announced his departure. Zoro could never be happier but he was still on not speaking terms with the cook so his joy was dimmed _a little_.

When they finished setting up the campfire, the cook and his admirers went to forage the forest one last time so the cook could teach them some cooking basics and they could have decent meals without him. Those who stayed at the camp were just Law and him, silently watching the flame flickering as it ate away the firewood.

It was Law who approached him first.

“If you want suitors to stay away from him, just make him your mate. It’s more effective than glaring at people like a mad dog.”

That was one thing about Trafalgar Law. When you got past his cool and collected façade, the man was blunt, even savage with words. Straightforwardness was a quirk that Zoro could admire in men but right now not so much. Right now, he didn’t appreciate it. Why did people like to randomly give him absurd advice that was often revolving around mating the cook?

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zoro grumbled. Putting his hands behind his head, he laid down and closed his eye just to not see Law’s annoying face. His voice was more than enough.

It seemed Law wasn’t done giving Zoro advice.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night but, swordsman-ya, I advise that you avoid the giantess at all cost.”

Zoro opened his eye.

“Why?”

“I think you already know why,” Law said cryptically but he knew the greenhead swordsman would get it.

_She would want to have him if she knows about him._

Rumors said she hailed from the abyss itself, but no one really knew of the great lord of the North’s origin. It was ironic that she spread famine not because she liked it. Oh, on the contrary, she loved fertility. Unfortunately, love for the titan meant possession. She needed food, all of the food. Her children scared of being eaten by their own mother had kidnapped many fertility spirits from their lands, turning the North into a winter wasteland, except the one sole mountain where Big Mom sat on her throne, enjoying the stolen abundance.

She and the other lords and the humans were the main culprits who had disturbed the cycle of life and death of the spirits in this country. The great lords and their wars, Human civilization with its deforestation, pollution, and overhunting, had pushed the spirits to the brink of extinction. The fertility kind had it worse than their fellow spirits; they were the gentlest one, easily to be captured and killed.

Zoro had been thinking about the existence of the cook for some time. In wartime, spirits born for battles thrived while the peaceful kind hibernated to survive, waiting for the time of peace to arrive again. Sanji was different than them, born a true fertility spirit but possessed the combative skill of a warhead one. That would make him the most desirable treasure and those who sought power would try to get their hand on him. Law must think in this way that why he suggested about mating. For wolves, the mating ritual was to bond them together and to the pack which offered the mated and the pack's alpha a better way to protect the pair. Law meant well... but he thought like alphas and suggested what a good alpha would suggest. Zoro wasn’t the cook’s alpha; he knew this fox. He trusted this fox. He wouldn't turn to mating as an easy way out for any problems.

“Huh, he’ll be fine. The fox is a weirdo,” Zoro smirked with genuine confidence, “But he’s strong. He can take care of himself.”

“You are weird too, Roronoa-ya.” Law shook his head but he wasn't surprised by the other's answer, “Until the day we meet again, take my last advice: there are many freaks on this man’s road, I wish Black Leg and you will find one to stay with soon.”

Sanji wasn’t used to silence. He had lived his whole life in a busy restaurant where social interactions were constant. He was a talkative fox - and as old man liked to tease, he itched to talk. With Law’s pack gone, he was left with a stoic wolf who was still mad at him.

Even though he talked good things about Sanji behind his back.

Sanji overheard Zoro's conversation with Law last night. Well, he heard the last part when marimo called him strong. He suspected Law did use some magic to make him hear it because his ears were good but not that great to hear what they spoke clearly from the distance when he was returning from foraging.

Mosshead speaking highly of him did something funny to his heart. Sanji had to shift to his fox form to hide his blushing face from Law’s subordinates.

It made sleeping alone last night very difficult when he was no longer driven by a grudge.

They were out of the forest but there was still a long way to the nearest town. The terrain was of grasslands. They were nearing the south which meant no more snow but the temperature at nigh still dropped a few degrees. They would have to sleep in their animal forms for warmth.

Zoro put out the fire before they went to rest _separately_ because the grass was too dry and could catch on fire while they were asleep. The heat generated from the leftover ashes, making the ground warm enough for them and they had fur. After clearing the ground, Zoro sat down, put his head on top of the paws, preparing to sleep. It was his usual sleep position until the fox came into his life. After that, he had to lay on his side while resting to make a room for the fox. At first, it was uncomfortable because he had his soft belly open and out to the enemy to gut but slowly he grew used to sleeping with the other animal cuddling on his body. It was weird to sleep in his previous posture again.

That was when he heard a soft chirrup from the fox, looking at him with his big blue eyes that filled with an expectation. 

The wolf let out a snort. “Finally notice me, huh?”

Another chirrup. The wolf sighed and obediently slumped on to his side. The fox immediately curled himself on top of Zoro’s belly, his usual spot, and started kneading the wolf’s mane. His soft vibrating noise of contentment was weird, the _‘ngngngng’_ that sounded like a deflating balloon or someone starting an engine but somehow it made Zoro completely relaxed. That- until the fox opened his mouth and said, “Your mane is coarser than him.”

Zoro bristled, fully awaken and offended. He was about to shake the fox off his body when Sanji licked his snout, “But yours is the one – the only one - I like to sleep on.”

“Is this what I am to you, your token pillow?” the wolf grunted but otherwise still laid down, pacified.

“Give me a real bed, Zoro.” Zoro’s breath hitched at a mere call of his name from the fox. Sanji looked at him from under his eyelashes, **“and see if you want to become... something else.”**

Now, let’s us give the wolf and the fox some privacy and turned our attention to somewhere down the road to the capital. Something interesting had just happened; a new alliance had been formed – inside of a semi-trailer truck used for animal transport. It was painted a bright yellow, with both sides of the truck adorn with lion and sunflower drawings. The truck was the sole vehicle on the road tonight, steadily heading to the capital city.

Inside of the truck’s trailer was a group of seven _people._

“I want to eat meat!” wailed the monkey.

“Shut up, you idiot!” the cat screeched. The monkey didn’t shut up, “But I’m hungry!" He threw himself onto the floor and yelled like a child having a tantrum while the other watched with mixed feelings. 

“Which gods did I wrong in the previous life to be stuck with your guys!?”

They might look and act like a group of clowns now but these were the people who would do many great things no other could. They were awaiting the last members to join and years from now on, no one, on heavens or lands, would not hear of their names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, Zoro didn't get to "solve" his sexual tension with the cook when they reached the next town because destiny planned for them to get a new pack. He'd be blue balling for the rest of the war.


	2. Chapter 2

Usopp could hardly say that Luffy did not deserve a beatings-up. After all, the monkey had kept everyone awake because of his childish tantrum. He also should know by now that Nami was temperamental, plus the fact that the feline needed to nap 16 hours a day and he kept interrupting her rest, Luffy was basically asking for death.

The cat or Nami still looked enraged. Her fist was still clenched after it had just delivered the blow that knocked Luffy out cold. 

“Are not monkeys supposed to be vegetarians?” asked the long-nosed man, taking a mental note to never anger the cat at all cost, or risk suffering the same fate as his new pack leader who was lying unconscious on the floor with big painful-looking bumps on his head. 

Perching delicately on the shoulder of a bear, Robin, the knowledgeable of the team, said,

“They are omnivores. Their diet consists of vegetation mainly because of convenience but monkeys are known to scavenge for carcass and occasionally organize a small-prey hunt."

“Ugh thanks, Robin - for the information, and for not going into the graphic gruesome detail like you usually do,” sighed Nami, transforming back to her feline form to conserve her energy. “Unfortunately no, Usopp. He is used to a meat-based diet,” she finished with a grimace, thinking how Luffy’s craving for meat could and would compromise their plan in the foreseeable future and starting to feel a strong headache coming on.

“Well, I love cola. I always broke out of my sanctuary for Burger King. Can’t blame him. If there is better food in the forest, animals would forgo leaves for a tasty burger any day,” the bear with prosthetic legs butted into the conversation. He felt great sympathy for his captain and wanted to support him even it earned him an icy glare from the annoyed cat.

“Oi Franky, isn’t your turn to drive Thousand Sunny?” Usopp asked, suddenly noticing the bear. He was too busy avoiding to get caught in the crossfire to realize Franky was with them and not in the cab. 

“Hey, I want to join the conversation too! You guys always have a super fun chat when I'm driving. Brook is driving, after all, he’s a horse.”

“Franky-san, that is a stereotypical statement but I'm not offended, yohohoho!” Brook said in his smooth melodic voice, revealing his ebony face from the trailer's shadow. It seemed, with only one lightbulb, their trailer was dim enough to hide both a bear and a horse in the room.

Everyone gasped because if Brook and Franky were all here, it meant that the person who was driving for them now must be...

“…Brook, who is driving?” Nami, turning back to her redhead form, lightly cracking her knuckles while asking him in her sweet saccharine voice which always promised violence. Despite being the oldest, Brook was still an idiot most of the time.

“Chopper! The little boy asked me to try driving, so I let him!” 

“You moron! All of you are stupid!" Screeched Nami. Her feral shriek caused the other animals to scatter in fear, desperately seeking shelter from the inevitable punishment. 

Except for Robin, everyone in the trailer got large bumps on their heads and was sent to go convince Chopper to pull over the truck.

“How could this be happening to me?” Nami groaned, feeling totally drained, thinking that the next time, fate gave her a group of idiots to babysit, she would give him the finger and go take a nap.

The crane just chuckled.

**The Cat, the Monkey, and the Horse.**

_A month ago._

About the same time when our fox met the wolf, in a beautiful Eastern city named Alabasta, another chapter of the adventure had also begun, with the same meeting of the unlikely pair: a town cat and a new arrival monkey.

Let talk about Nami.

Nami was a white cat with orange spots on her head resembling a bob cut. Her territories were the beach and shopping malls which she had protected for 20 years.

But her true home was always the beautiful mansion by the sea because it was where Vivi lived.

When she was a kitten, Nami used to roam the city as a free-spirited feral cat. She loved visiting the city's port to watch ocean waves. Nami just loved the sea and it loved her back by teaching the cat how to predict an upcoming storm from the cloud formation and using her whiskers to feel the humidity in the air. Whenever the fishermen saw the little weather cat around, they’d know right away that a storm was coming and would not take the boats out into open water. Nami always got a good piece of tuna as a reward later which motivated the naive cat to keep coming back to the port.

Nami figured out that nothing in this world of man was free and the best way for a tiny cat to survive was to form a strong reciprocal arrangement with the man. As long as everyone got what they wanted from the trade, she believed she would be safe and sated.

The cat was smart but she was naive. 

Nami underestimated human’s ignorance.

Superstition had always dominated the community of the fishermen. Driven by fear and blindness, soon a fallacious accusation was made, that it was the cursed cat who doomed them to poverty by bringing storms to their sea.

A group of cruel fishermen captured the cat and declawed her as a punishment.

Nami barely got away from being skinned alive but she had lost her claws, the most valuable assets of cats, her pride.

Without them, no cats could hunt.

Despair and hunger forced the cat to start stealing to survive. The once prideful but sweet little Nami was forced to become vicious and bitter.

Even it just cruelly took away her innocence along with her claws, the world hadn't done with the cat. Eventually, Nami got captured and sent to a local shelter which quickly deemed the little stray unadoptable due to her ferocity.

Nami's fate was sealed; she was about to be put to sleep.

She would have been killed if a human girl had not visited the shelter on that day.

Vivi adopted Nami on the spot, taking the hissing and spiteful cat back to her home, accepting her into the family.

 _Don’t pity me!_ Nami often hissed at the girl during their first year living together.

The girl always said back as if she understood the cat's word that she just wanted a friend.

Nami swore to trust man no more. The task was getting difficult each day when the girl was still as determined and kind as ever. It took about a year or two for the cat to finally wrap her head around the idea that humans could be kind without wanting anything in return. She was still skeptical about it but no more that she questioned Vivi's kindness. Vivi could be trusted. After all, she was no man.

Born into the wealthiest family of the city, Vivi could live on the easy street if she so chose. She really didn't have to lift a finger for anything when she had all her father's servants to do it for her but Nefertari Vivi, the daughter of Alabasta's mayor wasn't that kind of a person. She remained the same kind-hearted girl whose dream was always to work for her people.

She did right by everyone but might be spoiling her cat a little bit.

Despite everything that Vivi had provided, Nami still stole.

The cat had her reason. She couldn't simply bring a dead animal to Vivi like other cats. No, that was disgusting. Did you know, the townspeople sometimes called Vivi their princess? It was supposed to be a cute endearment because they loved her. Only Nami truly believed Vivi was her princess and the princess deserved nothing but the best.

Nami gifted her best friend jewelry and designer bags.

Vivi always had a shocked face whenever she woke up in the morning and found a pair of pricey shoes or a platinum necklace on her bed.

The poor girl had to put an apology note on light posts and trees, along with a list of the stolen objects to let the cat burglar's victims knew where to get them back. The townspeople actually were too amused to be mad, seeing it as a harmless prank of the little cunning cat. In fact, it had become some sort of the town’s highlight of the day, betting on whose house would get the honor of being robbed by the princess’s high-flying cat.

All in all, Nami’s life had been perfect.

That was until the government passed a new tax law that practically was legal permission to rob its citizens, forcing Vivi’s townspeople to pay heavy taxes for the government's secret projects that they were refused the right to know. Vivi's father demanded transparency on the unfair taxation from the government.

He was removed from the office, with a political ban being put on him.

A new mayor was elected- it was a pretense. Actually, the asshole was _appointed_ from the central government. He arrived with a group of armed henchmen, taking over Nami's city. The cat had never seen this kind of blatant and shameless interference on local politics before. Something didn't smell right and Nami was so worried, especially when she saw the determining look on Vivi's face.

The new mayor's first job was to put a woman under house arrest. Vivi was forbidden from leaving her house; the Internet got cut off and someone was listening to her phone calls. If asked, Nami saw this was absolutely pathetic. All the effort and money were wasted because they were afraid of one woman.

After being accused of rallying a mob, getting her people jailed and her self cut off from the world, Vivi still had an unwavering spirit and a strong sense of justice. Despite everything, she kept on fighting.

The blue-haired woman didn't want Nami to suffer together with her. "You don't have to be cooped up in a room all day with me."

With the same kind smile, she asked the cat to go get some fresh air for her sake. Nami didn't want to but she respected her wish.

Nami went to the beach every day to cool her head down by watching the waves, trying to come up with something to free Vivi and the townspeople from the government’s dogs. It was like that time all over again when she hit rock bottom after being declawed. She felt so helpless and she hated this feeling so much, even more so, she despised herself to not be able to claw that mayor's eyes out. She had no fucking claws. 

This time was different, though. She had someone to protect, Nami couldn't let despair consume her again.

As she walked along the beach, she remembered when she first became Maneki Neko. As a spirit of prosperity, she granted wishes for the others, not herself. 

The cat looked at the sea and made the first wish in her life. _Please, help me._ She begged. She didn't know the consequences of the spirits who used their power for themselves but at this moment, the cat was willing to do anything even to sacrifice her intelligence if that was the only chance to save Vivi and their beloved city.

The _help_ arrived the next day, washing ashore in the form of a drown monkey.

His name was Luffy.

He was a long-handed monkey from a faraway isle. Luffy's life was shrouded in mystery even he himself didn't know about his own kind or why he was raised in an isolated island. What Nami had gained from interrogating the monkey so far was that he was raised with a wolf and a fox but his brothers already moved out, leaving him alone on the isle. With no one to play with, life on the island had become unbearably dull for the monkey. He decided to build a raft from coconuts and travel to the mainland on his own, taking with him nothing but an old straw hat his caretaker once gave to him. 

Luffy's coconut raft was as stable as anything of a monkey’s invention. It was his pure luck that he survived crossing the ocean with that fragile creation of his. Nami deduced that his raft could be very close to the land when it got wrecked by strong tidal currents and submerged rocks. He drank a gallon of seawater from drowning though - it was a quite small price to pay for his stupidity. The ocean was being generous to let him wash up on the beach when it could have chosen to eat his life away. 

Nami also noticed that the monkey's endurance was off the charts. When she first found him, soaking wet and half-buried in the sand, she expected the animal to be long dead - that was until she heard its _snore._

He recovered _fast._ How could he not when he devoured everything in Vivi’s fridge and still begged for more. 

Nami started to regret bringing this useless glutton back to the mansion.

Vivi, on the other hand, was actually fascinated by Luffy's existence.

“I’ve never seen a real monkey before," the blue-haired girl said, looking excited, " In the school textbook, it’s said that all kind of mainland monkeys went extinct a long time ago, wiped out by an unknown disease.”

The mention of him being a vessel of a disease that could be deadly made Nami want to kick the monkey out of the mansion right now. 

Luffy made face at a banana in Vivi's hand and went to grab a roasted chicken, devouring it whole, bones and everything. Vivi laughed at his silly face; her laughter was clear and musical like pearls falling into a crystal glass.

The cat let the monkey stay with them, telling herself it was just for tonight.

She ended up letting him stay for a week.

The new mayor and his guarded dogs made a weekly visit to their mansion to strike a deal with Vivi: her silence in exchange for freedom. They had been using this trick since the first day she was imprisoned. When she told them to go to hell again, they started threatening her life and Nami's life. The same dull tactic. 

What the fools didn't know that this time was different.

Before they knew what happened, they were beaten to a pulp by the furious monkey.

How could he do that, Nami wasn't sure; the monkey was just a little larger than her cat form but he exuded such power she didn't know that animals could be capable of wielding.

Vivi had assumed the current mayor's position, faking reports while secretly investigating the government's corruption. It would take the government a while to notice the real mayor had been captured and locked away. 

They were not completely safe per se but the monkey had given the townspeople what they really needed, time to re-strategize their plan before fighting back.

Nami could never be more thankful. Luffy not only saved Vivi's town, but he also changed Nami's point of view of what the animals could or couldn’t do. As a small cat, she never dreamed of attacking a human. They were crueler and larger and more powerful than animals. Luffy had shown her that day that in fact, they could. If humans were assholes, they had to be punched. 

He was indeed contagious.

“Luffy, tell me again, what do you want to do in the mainland?”

“Make new friends! Do something fun and eat delicious food!”

His strength and optimism stirred up something inside her heart, making her dream of something crazy she never once thought of before meeting the monkey. The time to sit idly and beckon wealth with a paw was over, with Luffy's help, she was going to get the stolen money back to Vivi’s people.

“I have a plan,” revealed Nami with her catlike grin.

She told Luffy. He laughed and clapped hands, telling Nami she was the most awesome cat he'd ever met (she was the only one he'd met- Nami reminded him).

Nami & Luffy's greatest and totally insane plan was to loot the government’s treasury.

The two animals sneaked out at night while Vivi was sleeping.

Leaving Vivi was the hardest part of Nami’s plan. The girl had been through a lot, always trying to look brave to not make everyone worried. The absence of the cat would hurt her more than any kind of mental torture the government’s henchmen had tried on her.

“I’ll come back, Vivi,” Nami gently kissed her princess’s forehead as a promise before jumping off the window, landing in the monkey’s waiting arms.

They had a long way to go before reaching the capital. The cat knew that they needed a faster commute that definitely was not on foot.

In short, Nami wanted to steal a car.

There was no better option. Luffy couldn’t be trusted with public transport. He could transform into a human but he hated the form, saying it was itching he couldn't sit still, and Nami didn't want to risk their secrets being exposed in that idiotic way.

After leaving the mansion behind, they had wandered around the city, looking for a suitable car to take. Luffy wasn’t exactly on board with the plan.

“Nami, I want to ride a horse!” He whined petulantly because riding a horse was way cooler in his monkey brain.

Vivi shouldn't have let Luffy watch Planet of the apes.

“Where can we find a horse in a city?!” Nami yelled back, frustrated. 

"There must be a horse in the city!"

Nami arched her eyebrow at him; she challenged, "How can you be so sure about it, you idiot?"

"Hehehe, I have a hunch!”

This was the first time that Nami witnessed one of Luffy’s many fascinating powers.

Several years from now on, she would come to understand that whatever Luffy desired, as ridiculous as that wish might sound, he got.

In their search for a car, the duo had wandered from the downtown where Nami lived to the quieter area of the city that had the only one landmark: an old pet cemetery.

Seeing its rusty gate and ivy-clad brick walls, Nami was reminded why she never went to this part of the town after sunset. It looked haunted even during daylight. Creepy stories had been surrounding this place since its establishment; people kept hearing the galloping sounds of a horse, or on a moonless night, drunk men swore a shadow was following them around accompanying with a rotten smell of the dead.

Nowadays people still buried their dead pets in the animal necropolis but when it was built about fifty years ago, it was to honor animals who died in wars; most of them were warhorses. 

_Gallop, gallop, gallop._

A cold wind rushed past the two animals.

“Hello, lady and gentleman. It’s a breezy night, isn’t it?” 

Luffy screamed in excitement while Nami jumped so high that she shed her human skin and stuck in a tree even without her claws.

They found a horse, or actually an animate carcass of a dead horse. The obvious fact that Nami doubted Luffy noticed when he was ogling at the horse excitedly.

The horse looked equally bewildered by the unusual night wanderers who didn’t run away from him (Nami wanted to but she was stuck in the tree.)

Oh no, Luffy started making a conversation with the dead horse.

“I’m Luffy! What is your name?”

“My name is Brook. I am a dead horse, yohohoho!”

“Awesome! Can I ride you?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Cool! Come down, Nami! Brook is going to give us a ride!” Luffy waved his hand at Nami energetically. "You must be really excited that you jumped so high!"

“Wait! Wait! I never agree with this! And I AM NOT EXCITED!”

Nami had no choices.

Luffy went to pick the grumpy cat from the tree and put her on the back of the horse. The cat, realizing she was practically riding a fucking dead horse, became too horrified to move or speak.

The two animals had no problems with her not speaking, eagerly going back to their unfinished conversation.

Brook asked where they wanted to go and Luffy told him that they wanted to go to the capital. The capital was very far from their town but Brook sadly didn’t decline Luffy’s request, simply saying it was going to be a long ride.

The fact that he easily agreed to help the strangers he had just met made Nami seriously wary of his motivation.

Luffy seemed to trust him already, telling him about his life while Brook laughed along with him like they had known each other their entire lives. The monkey's easy-going nature was worrisome.

When Luffy got bored with telling stories, he started bombarding Brook with questions about the horse's life.

“What are you doing all alone in the pet cemetery?” Luffy asked while his hands working on combing the horse' mane to find some fleas like what monkeys usually did with their friends. Nami fell victim to his hands before but the horse seemed to like it.

Brook hummed.

Brook used to be a warhorse about 80 years ago, fighting in many battlefields. He legs collapsed when he carried a wagon full of dead soldiers, breaking like hollow twigs. When his human saw that Brook couldn't work anymore, the warhorse was pulled out from the battlefront and sent to the vet.

“They were going to put me to sleep- but I didn’t die, yohoho!” The horse shouted cheerfully.

Nami felt a pang of sorrow in her heart while Luffy had become uncharacteristically quiet, listening without saying anything, knowing Brook still had to a lot to tell.

Brook woke up after being injected with poison, scaring the shit out of the humans and getting shot in the head. He was down but in no time was back again, much to his confusion. Every time Brook tried to get up, he got shot, again and again, until he decided to play dead to avoid a bullet in the head. Even it couldn’t kill him, it still hurt.

“It was tiresome at that point so I decided to lay still like a good dead horse. They buried me in the pet cemetery, about 50 years ago. For 31 years, I have slept under layers of dirt!” Brook laughed again even there was nothing funny about the isolation that was forced upon him.

The loneliness he had endured could easily break any animal's spirit but Brook was surprisingly accepting his fate, thinking the reaper might be busy. " After all, it was wartime, they could be swamped." 

For three decades, Brook had laid alone, letting worms and bugs eat away his flesh, in hope that when he fell asleep, the reaper would finally come to pick up his soul.

He never came.

Brook kept trying until his heart couldn’t take in any more, beating frantically in his chest. Fearing that he would lose his last ounce of sanity, he dug his way out to the surface with his hooves. The first ray of moonlight in decades immediately calmed his mind.

Even since that time, he had got out every night to take a leisure walk on the street to appreciate the moon and the stars, occasionally following some drunk people to make sure that they got home safe. He didn't mean to scare them or to become the town's urban legend and children's nightmare. It just happened and Brook rolled with it, simply accepting without asking any questions.

Still, the one question remained, bugging his mind day and night. He had spent every nightly stroll, thinking about it.

Why couldn’t he die?

“I’ve gone back to my memory many, many time to find a clue of what has been keeping me alive.”

“Did you find it?” asked Luffy. Brook shook his head.

“No, but I’ve discovered a lot of things. Life of a warhorse could be quite plain and uneventful, Luffy-san. All I did my whole life was to let the human put a battle gear on my head and a saddle on my back. I went to many places but always saw the same thing. The last talk I had with my friends - we talked about a retiring life in a field where we could eat grass all day, knowing it'd never come true. One by one, we were put down to save the military’s cost.”

“Horrible,” Nami whispered.

“It was, Nami-san,” agreed Brook, “But I had accepted the fate. I felt no sadness nor anger toward humans. Maybe just one regret, though. When you give someone a lot of time, even a blockhead horse would start questioning his life and wanting more!"

“What is it?” prodded Luffy. 

“ My soul…is yearning for something more than the life I’ve lived but I really have no idea what it is. Maybe another decade, I'd find out," brook chuckled hollowly. "I have all the time in the world to think."

Luffy looked Nami, both nodding at each other.

“Come with us, Brook. So you can find out what you want to do!”

The horse startled. For the first time in the night, he looked hesitant.

"I'd love too but won't my appearance make your journey more difficult? I am a dead horse."

They could be the first people in many decades that he had a chance to talk to, yet he was still being considerate of their feelings, helping without asking anything in return. Even the deteriorating body couldn't distract Luffy and Nami from the obvious truth that this warhorse fellow was a noble soul, and as alive as ever.

“We have to find a car anyway, and soon. Your appearance actually bothers me less than this monkey's stupidity,” Nami assured, pinching Luffy's cheek. "If you go reveal your true identity to the humans, I'll kill you, Luffy."

"Ouch!"

Brook laughed at his little new friends.

For the first time in five decades, the horse got to see the first ray of sunlight and he wasn't alone.

**The Bear and the Crane**

In Grandline District, not far from Alabasta city, there was a wildlife sanctuary for rescued and injured animals. In this sanctuary lived a bear who was the star of the center.

When Franky was a young cub, poachers tried to smuggle him overseas but the ship sank and the bear was stranded on the mangrove forest for three months until a local fisherman found him and contacted Iceburg, the director of the sanctuary. People had been bewildered by the mysterious three months of Franky's early life. It was a miracle that the little cub could survive on his own in the environment that was not his natural habitat.

Iceburg said the bear was a weirdo, end of story. The director often visited the bear to scold at him, threatening to kick him out for good.

They both knew Franky couldn't be released into the wild.

Because of the shipwreck incident, the bear might live but his legs were severely damaged. He had to wear prosthetic legs to be able to walk and run like normal animals. There were many animals like him in the sanctuary, victims of illegal wildlife trade. They came from every background, from circuses to the rich's personal zoos. With their physical and mental disabilities, they could no longer go back to the forest and many were depressed by this cruel reality.

It was Franky who encouraged them not to give up on life.

One day, the bear decided he had seen enough of these depressing shits. He changed the sanctuary, calling himself as the big brother, forming a gang and pranking the human staff. Franky's frequent tactic to cheer his subordinates up was to organize an attack on fast-food restaurants. Iceberg always blamed the animals' raid for forcing him and his workers to drive farther than they should as all of the restaurants in the 8-mile radius of their sanctuary had to close their businesses.

But it worked.

The raid made animals felt like it had gained back some part of its lost self-esteem. Every human worker was also happy. Franky believed Iceburg must feel the same too even he kept telling his staff to not encourage this type of roguish behavior. Beneath the indifferent facade, threats, and complaints, Franky knew the purple-haired man was a cool bro. He was just very good at acting as a super asshole.

The sanctuary had turned Franky's story into children books aiming to inspire disabled kids and of course, encouraging the adults to donate. Much to the director's dismay (he thought it would inflate Franky's ego which it did), it fucking sold well.

The sanctuary was built on the natural junction of the birds' migration routes, making it become one of the birds' rest stops.

Franky had seen different kinds of seasonal traveling birds taking a rest on his sanctuary's trees and feed on grains and seeds that the staff had left for them. Among the avian travelers was Robin.

The bear thought "Robin" was a funny name for a crane. He also thought the crane herself was interesting. The aloof bird didn’t migrate like other of her kind, making a simple nest on the tree near Franky's turf and watching him.

The bear became curious. He demanded to know why she had watched him and the bird easily told the bear that she liked watching someone making a fool of himself.

That wasn't a nice thing to tell a stranger or a predator. The bird was rude.

Franky liked her instantly.

They became some sort of friends. 

They talked to each other every day. Sometimes, the conversation was very short, just a greeting before they went to do their own things. Sometimes, it was longer and more meaningful. 

Franky told Robin about his early life with a couple of dugongs in the mangrove forest and how much did he miss Tom and Kokoro.

“I told those humans about Tom but they still wonder how I survived alone!" Franky ranted.

“That because humans don’t understand your language, Franky,” Robin reminded him. The bear pouted, "Super lame! They only know how to talk to their kind! I could not bear the idea of talking only to the other bears and I’m a bear!”

“Franky, that’s a really bad pun. Don’t ever do it again.”

“You are cold, Nico Robin.”

Robin smiled cryptically. 

There were times when Robin had disappeared from the sanctuary. Franky never asked where did she go because he never asked about her life. He supposed that if she wanted to tell him, she would. 

One day, Robin came back after being absent for a whole month, looking defeated and ready to talk to someone. Franky lent her his ear.

The crane told him about how she lost her dance to the mysterious wildfire many years ago.

The young Robin survived and other cranes appeared to take her into their dance. Robin could have had a new life, having a new family of her own if she had chosen to let go of the past.

But she couldn't. Robin couldn't forget that wildfire and how it took her beloved mother away from her forever.

For thirty years, Robin had one quest, seeking for the truth of that unnatural phenomena. She had traveled all over the places, collecting information on the unexplainable case of wildfire, getting her first clue that led to her investigation of the palm-oil plantation and its tie with the government which confirmed her suspicion that there was something sinister that had been going on in this country.

The more she had learned the more depressing she had become. There were more than one darker hours when the crane seriously considered about letting go of her life just to find peace.

"I was at the lowest point of my life when I saw you raiding McDonald's," Robin admitted. He was ridiculous and reckless - that was her first impression of him.

He was so full of life.

She decided to live a little longer.

The last month that Robin had disappeared, she went to the capital, staring from afar at the government's building, the last frontier that kept her away from finding the truth of her mother and every animal's deaths.

It was so close. She was so close.

Inside the building, she knew there must be the secret records of everything that had happened in this country but there was no way that one single crane could infiltrate the building that had the best security system in the world.

Robin had reached a real dead-end in her investigation. Again that dark thought came back, a sweet whisper in her head.

Robin flew back to Franky.

After speaking with him, she felt better. She might not know what to do next but first, she had to keep living.

The crane didn't expect Franky to help her with anything, yet he woke her up. 

Franky was standing beside the sanctuary's newest animal-transport truck. It was the first time she saw him in his human form. Electric blue hair and a cyborg body, it was definitely the bear. Whatever the form he took, he was as larger than life as ever. 

Franky knew Robin didn't expect him to do anything - she just wanted someone who she could unburden her grief with.

Franky had a bad habit; he couldn't just listen and let Robin struggle alone when he could do something about it.

 _Iceburg not gonna be happy._ In fact, the director was going to be super mad in the morning when discovering his truck got stolen. _Nah, when does that idiot not mad at me?_ Franky told himself, choosing to focus on the bird on the tree.

“Oi, don’t give up! Get in, we’re going get you that classified data from the asshole!” The bear urged Robin to hurry up before the uptight director popped up and killed him.

Robin glided down gracefully from the tree, in the blink of an eye, transforming into a black-haired woman, with the most captivating pale blue eyes Franky had ever seen. Robin smiled at him.

It was small but it was genuine.

**The Boy and the Frog**

Chopper was a 10-year-old boy who lived with his grandmother in a small quiet town somewhere in Grandline District. He was in his last year of high school. Because he was a child prodigy who grade-skipped to pursue his interest in veterinary medicine, Chopper had no friends in school. Teenager classmates didn’t want to hang out with a nerdy kid with an obsession with animals. The kids laughed at Chopper, called him names and stole his lunch money. 

Chopper didn’t understand why his aspiration to be a good vet like his late grandfather deserved to be mocked. He just wanted to help animals. It made the boy confused but more than that he felt hurt and lonely. 

Grandma Kureha tried to comfort him in her own way. “Those brats are jealous of your gift,” she told him when he was younger, and asked him to promise to tell her if the other students bullied him again because she was going to “kick their asses.”

Chopper didn’t plan to tell her that he got his lunch money stolen every day. His grandma would certainly kill his classmates but Chopper knew it’d not solve his problem. The entire school would see him as a weak who hid behind his grandmother. He wasn't an 8-year-old kid anymore. He could deal with his problem by himself. He had to just endure it a little while longer until he graduated the next semester.

Chopper couldn't wait to go to university, desperately looking forward to doing something he loved without having to fear being shoved in a locker.

Even he told himself that he would be leaving this school soon, it didn't make his life easier. His money still got stolen and he was still lonely.

In Chopper's school, there was a little pond at the school backyard that kids didn't usually want to play there because there was a slimy and ugly amphibian in the pond. Therefore, it became Chopper's safe place beside the library. He was too hungry to concentrate on reading so Chopper usually went to the pond to wait until the lunch break was over, trying not to think about his growling stomach.

He always failed and ended up crying alone.

Chopper started finding several coins on where he usually sat by the pond. It wasn’t much but enough for him to get the cheapest chocolate bar from a vending machine.

To avoid the bullies, The boy had developed a good sense in detecting human's presence. There were no humans around, this, he was sure of. 

The coins kept appearing every day. His helper must be watching from somewhere.

But who were they?

After placing the coins on the usual spot for the kid to find, Usopp leaped into the water and hid himself underneath a leaf of a water lily. He didn’t understand why he bothered to hide in the first place. It wasn’t like the kid would know it was him who went fishing out the coins at the bottom of the pond for him every day.

He also didn't completely understand why he helped the human boy in the first place. Usopp had lived in the school's pond long enough to know how mean students could be towards their own kind who was different. Chopper was not the first bullied kid he had seen crying. He always sympathized their plights but there was nothing he could do for those kids. He was just a frog and they were humans; how could an animal, smaller and weaker, could possibly help a human who was better than him in every way?

He couldn't help but notice, as Chopper kept coming back to the pond to cry, that his smell was different than other children.

He smelled like him.

Everyone wanted to fit in and felt belonged somewhere. 

No one really wished to be born a weirdo.

Usopp loved spinning tales for his little friends. The tadpoles would follow him around all day, idolizing him, listening to his stories of the human world tirelessly and always asking for more. 

But no one really shared Usopp's imagination when they grew up.

It was like the physical transformation completely changed them to the core of their spirit. Gone was their wide-eyed innocence and curiosity, they stopped caring about the outside world, content with the simple life in a small little swamp.

He had lost his friends to adulthood. They no longer wanted to continue their friendship with “the weird frog who never grows up," but Usopp didn't give up. He tried to befriend the next generation of tadpoles, hoping at least one of them could share his dream.

The frog community didn't like their children to be associated with him so they cast him out.

Usopp was lucky to find his new home in a quiet pond in Chopper's school before his skin dried off. He was worried about the old resident amphibians in the pond when he first moved in but it seemed they started moving out as soon as he opened his mouth, annoyed by his rambling nonsense. The good thing was, Usopp had got the pond for himself without a fight. The downside was he had no one to talk to but that could easily be fixed. He kept himself occupied by rehearsing his speech. He was close to perfect it and when he did, he would sneak back to his old swamp and move everyone's heart with his powerful performance!

“If a frog travels the human world, he will become the greatest hero that even man will be cheering and wanting for him to stay with them!" He recited, pretending the water lily's leaf he was standing on was his grand stage.

The other thing about living alone for many years without a real person to talk to was Usopp's brain tended to conjure the faceless audience in his mind to compensate for a lack of it in reality.

“Really?” the voice asked.

So he wasn't very good at distinguishing a real voice from an imaginary one, thinking it was his internal voice even he felt it was slightly more authentic than usual, quickly brushing off as him being great and awesome. 

“Yes, my little friend, I, the great captain Usopp, can guarantee it's true. Our great great great grandfather, Jiriaya once traveled the world of man and was accepted by the humans as their hero even he's in fact a giant toad!”

“Wow,” said the human kid with big doe eyes that were staring at him in awe.

“You understand me?” Usopp asked, still not noticing. 

The kid nodded enthusiastically. 

"Wow," Usopp said. He never knew that a human could talk to him.

Wait.

A human.

Talk to him?

**He had just talked to the human!**

_What should I do?!_ Screamed the frog internally, too petrified to move right now because oh dear lord, there was a giant human towering over him. He could be devoured!!!

Chopper watched the frog worriedly. The clever kid knew right away that the panicking frog could hurt himself or he could run away from him when his self-preservation finally kicked in.

Not wanting the frog to go, the boy pleaded distraughtly, “Wait! Don’t go, please. I will never harm you!”

“How can I trust that you are not going to dissect me or eat me!?” the frog asked anxiously. "My legs are frail, I'm not a good swimmer. You will get no meat from my weak little body!"

Chopper made a disgusted face. “I want to be a veterinarian! I want to help animals not to hurt them!”

The great captain Usopp wasn't going to fall for that lies, little brat! 

“Okay, cool.” Usopp played along, regaining back most of his control of the body and preparing to leap into the water if the kid showed any attempt to grab him.

“Can I go with you?”

“What?”

“Travel the human world. Do you think if I go, will I be stronger and people will like me too?” The boy asked in his small voice. The intertwining of desperation and hope reflected in his brown eyes, as he waited for Usopp's answer. 

No one of his kind really took Usopp's word seriously before. Usopp never really planned to go see the world; he just liked fantasizing about going to as he had no courage or power to do it alone. Here, a human boy _believing_ in his story, even more than Usopp the storyteller himself. He embraced it with his heart.

His reverence surprised the frog, giving him the same refreshing feeling of swimming in the water on the first day of spring.

Usopp blinked away his eyes' extra liquid. 

“Of course!” he sniffled. 

Chopper gave him a toothy smile.

They had planned their adventure together when Chopper had a lunch break. It was supposed to be a short trip of a few days but Chopper was still thrilled to bits at skipping class. As an honor student who had been studying all his life, Chopper felt like a badass delinquent he saw in the movies. Usopp was worried about everything and anything that could go wrong but even the usual negative frog was excited. The prospect of an adventure gave both of them the hope that when they came back from the journey, they could be better and braver.

At night, Chopper left a letter on his drawer telling his grandmother to not be worried and left the house with the frog who somehow took a form of a long-nosed man.

"I didn't know you can transform into a human!"

Usopp rubbed his nose smugly, "In this form, I have the strength of ten thousand men!"

"Wow!"

Actually, Usopp had no idea he could shapeshift until this night. 

Chopper and Usopp lived in a small suburban town; they needed a ride to the city center to catch the night train to the capital and do some sight-seeing stuff. There was no bus around at night so they decided to call a taxi. 

It was supposed to be a short and safe trip.

Life, however, never went according to plan.

The taxi driver who picked them up, upon seeing it was a pair of a harmless teenager and a kid, straight-up robbed them before dumping the two on an empty street of nowhere, with no human houses nor light from the street lamps.

Forty-six minutes after their little adventure began, they both wanted to go home.

Chopper was trying his best to conceal his shock and not to cry in front of Usopp. They were both shaking, still terrified from just getting mugged. They could have been killed! Usopp desperately wanted to suggest them to go home. They had no money and they almost died. The world was dangerous - too dangerous for them.

But the frog knew if they turned back, it would destroy that last little self-esteem of theirs. He didn't want to disappoint Chopper, even more so, he didn't want the kid to be disappointed in himself. 

He reached out and took the boy's hand, squeezing it gently, “It’s alright! You are in safe hands of the great captain Usopp, remember! I will figure something out but we have to keep walking. This road creeps me out, but _slightly_ as I fear nothing!"

The whole sentence was a lie but Chopper nodded, squeezing his hand back.

After maybe an hour of walking, they found a run-down gas station. In normal circumstances, Usopp would never step his foot on this scary-looking building but Chopper was shaking from the cold and it was the only place around this dark area to have light and a warm shelter.

“Hey, why don’t you go to that convenience store and get something warm to drink?” Usopp suggested. Chopper's eyes were cast down.

“But I don’t have money…”

“Don’t worry! I’ll find us money,” Usopp said, trying to be brave and dependable. “And we will still be going to the capital.”

It was the last part that cheered him up; Chopper's eyes brightened.

When the kid had disappeared into the store with a promise to get Usopp a drink, the frog made a quick run to the station's abandoned yard, gathering dried leaves from the ground as much as he could before closing himself in a toilet near the parking lot.

He prayed for this trick to work or they would be so screwed.

**The Assembly**

While the frog was working on his craft, the other two animals just arrived at the gas station.

Standing still beside the truck, Robin tilted her head, looking like she was listening to something. Franky absolutely heard nothing but the eerie sound of silence but perhaps the bird's hearing was better than him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Do you want anything from the store?”

“Nah – Oh, maybe a cola. I’ll be waiting in the parking lot," the bear said. This night was quite cold and windy but it'd not stop the bear from drinking his favorite cold cola.

“Got it.”

Robin went to the gas station’s convenience store to get food supplies while Franky filled up the gas tank, all the while grumbling about the gas price. Now, he understood why Iceburg always walked with sticks up his ass all the time, whining about money and money. While waiting for Robin, the bear reexamined his wallet only to find it still pretty much empty. Money never was his problem until this point. he stole only Iceburg's wallet before breaking out of the sanctuary so there was not much. When Robin got back, he needed to talk to the crane about their money shortage because the truck needed gas and a lot of maintenance if they wanted to travel to the capital safely. 

"Not super," scowled the bear before putting it back in the pocket of his red Hawaii shirt. It was about one in the morning and the parking lot was deserted and dark, save for the light from the 24/7 store. It was quiet around the parking lot so Franky didn't have any difficulty in detecting the sounds of something's movement. He heard sounds of footsteps long before seeing a guy with a long nose hastily stepping out of the toilet with _a pile of money._

Franky whistled to himself, adjusting his sunglasses and grinning maniacally. 

The sanctuary needed all the money to help the animals in need. He had his morals and didn't take anything from the center except the truck. _You shouldn’t steal from your bros._

Frank got out of the cab.

_But a stranger is super fine._

Usopp had successfully turned the leaves into banknotes, much to his relief. He wiped sweat drops from the tip of his nose, not having time to rejoice his achievement. He had to go find Chopper. The illusion would not stay up very long but if they hurried, they could get away with the food before the cashier discovered he was tricked to accept leaf litter as a payment.

Too focusing on finding Chopper, the usually careful frog hadn't noticed that he was being watched and followed. It was too late for him to escape when a sneaky blue-haired punk tackled him, twisting his arms and pushing him to the ground with his terrifyingly bulky body.

“Gimme your money, bro!” the blue-haired man shouted.

“Eiiiiiiihhhhh!” Usopp screamed, fruitlessly trying to get away from the attacker.

Why the hell people were so obsessed with ambushing him tonight?!

Unbeknownst to the two men grappling at each other, two people were grinning predatorily in the shadow.

“This our chance, Brook!”

“Yes, Nami-san!”

Nami put down her binoculars and hopped on Brook's back as the horse made a quick run to the truck.

They originally didn't plan to stop at the gas station but Luffy sniffed out the food in the convenience store. Nami was irritated, not wanting to waste their time, but she knew there was nothing at this point that they could do but waited for the glutton to come back on his own. Luffy had been unbearably whiny when he didn't have enough to eat, even asking Brook once if he could eat some of Brook's dried flesh around his ribcages considered that his body was, ugh, dead. Much to Nami's horror, the horse replied, "of course, I always do wonder if it'd taste like a jerky!"

Nami really didn't want to think about it.

So, they let the monkey go do his things and went to survey the area while waiting for his return. It was their lucky day to come across the most suitable truck they had been looking for. It was new, big and had a trailer that could contain all of the treasure she planned to steal.

It was perfect.

The only obstacle was the blue-haired thug who, from his look, could be a handful to take down. They almost considered going to get Luffy to beat him up but that stupid was willing to get out of the cab to go after a dude, even leaving the door _unlocked._

Nami couldn't pass up the opportunity.

The sound of car ignition startled Franky who was currently bear-hugging the scrawny guy, forcing him to loosen up his grip on the man's torso to look back at the sound. The long-nosed man seized his chance to elbow him in the gut, causing both of them to stumble and fall on their asses. Usopp scrambled away as fast as he could from his wannabe-murderer. Franky ignored him because he was having a bigger problem in his hand now.

He watched in horror as his truck being pulled out from its parking space. Totally forgetting about the money, the blue-haired man hurriedly got back to his feet.

“Oi, you thieves!” he shouted. "That's illegal!"

Usopp paused in his escape. He should have taken this chance to get away silently when that criminal was distracted. But how dare this hypocrite, making a shameless statement about stealing!

"Someone like you cannot utter such a word, you thief!" Captain Usopp yelled.

It was a really stupid move.

The man turned his attention back to Usopp, glaring at him before gawking at the money that had turned back to its true form before his eyes. Franky's eyes widened in shock.

"You fraud! My truck got stolen because of you!" He let out a ferocious snarl, shifting back into a giant bear.

Usopp screamed. He, too, turned back into his original form out of fear which furthered angered the bear who believed he got tricked twice by the frog.

“You bastard of a frog!”

“SOMEBODY HELPS ME!!!”

Inside, the cab, the two animals were watching the show, Nami with a bored expression while Brook seemed to enjoy it immensely.

“Oh, they are animals too!” Brook hummed from the driver's seat.

“Brook."

"Yes, Nami-san?"

"Run on them.”

“Eh! Why!”

“The perfect crime leaves no witnesses.”

“Isn’t that a murder?” Asked Brook, the virtuous horse.

“No, just roadkills," the cat insisted, cold and unsympathetic.

“Aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!” Both the bear and the frog screamed, clinging to each other instinctually when seeing the truck was heading toward them.

Meanwhile, inside the convenience store, a new friendship was forged near the slushie machine.

“Thank you for offering to pay for my drink, Robin!” said Luffy, devouring his seventh glass of iced strawberry slushie while pressing the machine's button for his next glass of a different flavor. 

“Thank you, Robin. You are very kind!” Chopper chirped, happily sipping from his cup of hot cocoa.

Robin chuckled. “You two are welcome,” the crane told them before suggesting her two new friends to go wait for the others on a bench outside.

Cranes were one of the wisest in the animal kingdom. They were blessed with longevity which they spent accumulating and passing on their knowledge to the next generations. Robin had her family's wisdom with her, along with new knowledge she'd gained during the three-decade-old plight. She was well-versed in history and lores that was why she right away noticed that the two people who were talking to each other in the store were special.

One of them was _a monkey._ Robin couldn't believe her eyes.

 _So, this is the change you told me about._ She thought back to the whisper of the Eastern wind when she got out of the truck.

"You can come with us. We are going to the capital too!" Luffy invited Chopper.

 _Oh dear, it seems I've been unforgivably inattentive,_ thought Robin, with an amusing smile. The two boys had just met but it seemed their budding friendship had advanced rather well even without her intervention.

“Really!” Chopper said excitedly.

Robin decided it was her turn to say something, 

"What a coincidence, I have a truck."

“Yay!!”

“So, you all are good friends already, hahaha” Luffy laughed. Nami clobbered him.

“No idiot! We are not!”

“The mental cat is right! They were trying to kill me, Nico Robin!” Franky told Robin angrily.

“But you are not dead,” the crane pointed out matter-of-factly. 

“Did I just hear the disappointment in your tone!?!”

“I’m so confused…and scared,” Usopp said, standing awkwardly near the truck that almost ran on him, with a group of five strangers in which 3 of them tried to take his life.

“I’m so sorry,” the skeleton with afro hair offered sincerely, stepping out of the dark and trying to convey his apologies through his empty eye sockets. Years of staying in a cemetery and seeing only skeletons, Brook's body couldn't remember a form of living beings and could only shapeshift into a skeleton. 

In short, his appearance could be quite disturbing when you first saw it.

“Arrrrrrhhhh!” Chopper and Usopp screamed at the sight of a talking skeleton, eyes popping out.

“Hahahahaha, you guys are funny!” Luffy clapped his hands. 

“I don’t think they try to be funny…” Nami heaved out a sigh. "I don't want to look like a clown. Let continue this inside of the trailer shall we?"

“So why you guys are going to the capital again?” Usopp, the long-nosed man asked. Except for Franky who was driving, everyone was sitting in a circle inside the trailer. Finally, when no one was busy trying to kill anyone, they finally could have a talk like civilized animals.

“Infiltrate-”

“Steal from-”

“-the government.”

Both Robin and Nami said in unison, looking at each other in surprise before shaking their hands. A new sisterhood was born.

Usopp didn't share the sentiments.

“That basically will get us all killed! We want an out!” The frog screamed for a hundred time tonight, scurrying to the furthest corner of the trailer's wall. “Chopper is just a kid!”

"I'm not!" Chopper pouted while the other animals cocked their head in confusion.

“So what?” They asked, failing to follow Usopp's line of reasoning. In the animal world, age didn’t really matter. Kids are allowed to participate in everything with adults. It was how they learned to survive. It wasn’t like animals had a school that kids could be sent to train in a safety-controlled environment.

Usopp realized these idiots could never understand the concept of school.

"I don't see how that could stop Chopper from joining us?" Luffy said, dismissively scratching his armpit before sniffing at his hand.

“Do you really want me in your team?” Chopper asked, looking very shy and hopeful. He had never been wanted before, always the last one picked for the team. Luffy was the most friendly and coolest person like the school's jocks but he was kind. He comforted Chopper when he started to worry when Usopp had yet come back and shared his slushie with him. It made Chopper feel really happy to be accepted as his friend.

"Of course, I want all of you in my pack!" Luffy yelled in an obvious tone.

Robin smiled at Chopper reassuringly, “You will be of great help, Chopper. After all, you have a very special gift." she turned to tell the others, “He is an animal whisperer.” 

“Wow," Nami whistled.

“You always understand animal speech, right?” Robin asked the kid who nodded.

“People say I’m crazy because they don’t understand what I hear,” he confessed. "I think I'm crazy too so I stop telling them how the animals feel."

“They used to be many humans like you in the past but as mankind has steadily disconnected itself from nature, they lose the ability to understand us.” 

The crane let the fact sink in. To live with your own kind but no one understood you, it must hurt a lot. The animals in the room had their share of loneliness; they immediately understood the hardship Chopper had gone through. 

Usopp looked torn by fear and worry. He was still scared and unsure if they could go with them but he wasn't callous to take away Chopper's chance. Maybe Chopper could go without him; they said Chopper was special. This could be the chance for Chopper to have real friends who were strong and dependable - maybe he wasn't really needed. 

Chopper was looking at his first friend with a hopeful expression as if he could read his thought, "Please come with us, Usopp."

The kid could really read thoughts, the frog swore.

Usopp was still indecisive until Luffy smiled at him, “Usopp, it’ll be fun. I promise no harms will come to Chopper and you." 

Usopp looked at the black-haired man's black eyes. In fact, everyone's eyes also were on him, brown, hollow, and pale blue - different colors like beautiful pebbles in clear water; it reminded him of that feeling, of the light touch of sunlight that kept him warm during the cold winter when he was alone in the pond.

Usopp thought back of life of solitude and made up his mind, “How much do you plan to steal from the government again?”

Chopper and Luffy quickly hugged Usopp, "Thank you, Usopp!"

Nami grinned, “All of it, plus interest.”

“Top-secret, classified data that could destroy the nation, from the secret government building with the best security system in the world," Robin added, deadly serious.

“Robin, please don’t ever try to give a motivational speech," begged Usopp, feeling like crying again.

Since that fateful confrontation in a gas station, the peculiar group had traveled together for several weeks now. From their bickering and banter, or how loud were their laughter as the truck kept moving toward the capital city, you would believe they had known each other for the whole life, not a few weeks.

Everyone had filled in their roles perfectly, almost like they used to be in this chaotic dynamics together before.

Perhaps, they really did in the past life.

Robin found her reading companions in Chopper and Nami.

Nami had Robin and Franky, two relatively responsible adults, to discuss strategies and navigation with.

Usopp found his audience who was genuinely eager for his performance in Brook, Chopper, and Luffy.

Franky taught Brook how to properly drive a truck and discussed with Usopp their plan to renovate and paint the truck.

Brook discovered something new about himself. He found out he loved music. Franky let him pick songs on the radio.

Chopper cried when his friends entrusted him with the first-aid kit.

Luffy loved to sit on the truck's roof, letting the wind rush past him and grinning to himself. He made a good call to leave the island. Life was getting better and better -- although he could feel something was still missing.

The monkey smiled, unworried of whatever fate had in store for them.

Sabaody Archipelago was a famous tourist destination and travelers' rest stop. It was also the last city in Paradise District before entering the New World. Once they left the city, it would be forests and mountains for weeks before they reached New World District where the capital city was located. The animals knew when they arrived at Sabaody, they had to get the truck ready for the long journey as well as to start thinking of their attack plan as they were taking a step closer to their destination and its promised danger.

“We are still lacking manpower… or animal-power, to help us pull off our suicidal plan and **survive** ,” Usopp said grimly, emphasizing on the last word while letting Chopper sleep on his lap. The boy wanted to be included in the conversation but he got sleepy; it was past his bedtime. "Also, Chopper needs a bed."

Everyone nodded.

“I can fight so is Brook,” Franky pondered. He demanded to be in the strategist's talk. Robin saw that the bear's own experiences in fighting would be helpful for the team and volunteered to drive. “But I think we would be more helpful in facilitating our escape. We need at least a true carnivore in our team for the heist.”

“Nami is a true carnivore. She is strong!” Luffy yelled, trying to be helpful and looking proud of himself that he remembered one lesson of Robin’s basic biology.

“I’m strong,” Nami nodded, not denying it. “But I’m not exactly _combative,"_ she hissed.

Luffy frowned, touching his chin in a thinking manner he sure copied from a detective film Vivi let him watch. You could practically saw a light bulb being turned on above his head as he grinned victoriously. Nami braced herself. 

“Let find a fox and a wolf!" Suggested Luffy, "as strong as my brothers and ask them to join us!”

"You speak like it's that easy to approach two scary predators and ask them to join us," Usopp, the normal and most sane person of the group, mumbled his doubt. Nami sympathized him.

“Why don’t we ask your bros to join us instead?” Franky asked, easily rolling with Luffy's plan.

Luffy puffed his cheeks, sticking his tongue out. “Boo, no way. This is my pack! They have their own friends!” 

“Where are your brothers now, Luffy-san?” Brook chimed in, curious to learn more of Luffy's mysterious brothers whom the monkey always spoke fondly of them.

“No idea! The last time I saw Sabo, he got carried away by a really strong wind. And five years ago, a big fish appeared out of nowhere and swallowed Ace a whole.”

“…Are you sure that your brothers are not dead by now?” Nami said exasperatedly, feeling a migraine coming on.

“No, they are pretty much alive,” Luffy said with confidence.

The argument to get canine fighters was inconclusive. It continued for a while but they wisely decided to move on to the easier and more urgent topic, about truck maintenance. 

It was the start of a real battle between Nami and Franky.

Franky made a list of what he needed for repairing the truck, along with his personal projects to make the truck super cool. Eight of his proposals were shot down by Nami. The two had been fighting about the repairing cost all day. After many arguments and crying, (on Franky's part. The cold-hearted cat kept rejecting all the cool parts in his renovation plan,) they settled on repairing the truck, giving Brook a personal stable, a bird perch stand for Robin, a hammock for Luffy, a fishbowl for Usopp while Nami and Chopper getting beds of their sizes. 

Nami reread Franky's ninth-edited revision again while the bear watched nervously, fearing the cat would demand to cut costs again.

Nami gave back the plan to Franky, without any comment. Franky was relieved.

"Wait, Franky."

"What?" the bear clutched the plan to his chest, ready to defend it with his life. Nami shook her head at him, "Do you think you could build something suitable for two canines?"

Franky blinked, confused, "I can do that. Do you seriously believe we are going to recruit the animals?"

Nami remembered Luffy's confidence and shrugged, “Just a hunch.”

On the first day that they stopped at Sabaody and Luffy was let loose, a fight broke out in the city's beautiful market square; civilians were running and screaming at each other to evacuate from the market. When the other members arrived at the scene, it was, as was expected, their monkey who started a fight.

The black-haired teen roughly wiped the blood from his nose before grinning at his greenhead opponent who also spat blood on the ground casually. 

He even seemed to be having fun, going all out. They never saw Luffy getting animalistic like this before.

The muscular man who fought and managed to draw blood from Luffy had their back turned on them, green head and naked from the torso up. There was also another man in a three-piece suit in the now deserted market. He, too, had his back turned on them, standing closest to the fight and calmly smoking his cigarette.

The two gave off the most dangerous vibes they had ever felt.

The last pieces had now assembled.

A giant cogwheel of destiny began to turn.


End file.
